Faith Sight

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak. —2 Corinthians 4:13

Faith is not only a spiritual law; it is a spirit—the spirit of faith. The spirit of faith is the Spirit of God, who supplies the supernatural power behind your faith. There is a spirit of faith and also a spirit of fear. What you say will activate one or the other. The spirit of fear is not of God, but of the devil (2 Timothy 1:7). The spirit of faith believes and therefore speaks. Notice the operation: he believes and then speaks. Believing is in the heart of man (soul and imagination), and speaking is with the mouth. In order for your words to be packed with faith and power, you must believe in your heart. This means you will see things in your heart, in your thought life, in your imagination, before you see them in the natural. In the natural, we see ourselves driving that new car before we actually find it. We have a blueprint of our new house before we see it built. Even before you break ground, you know how many bedrooms it will have, how big the kitchen is, and where the bathrooms are. The Word of God is the blueprint of our faith. It will paint a picture of you totally healed while you are sick, anointed before you feel like it, wealthy while your bank account is empty. When what you see in you is bigger than what you see in the natural—you are believing with your heart! Let the Word of God paint the picture of the truth in your heart. See the Word and not the problem. Believe in your heart.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Word Talk

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. —1 Corinthians 13:11

When you were born again, your spirit (or the real you) was instantly changed into the image and likeness of Christ. Your soul, which is your mind, will, emotions, and understanding, was not changed. Although you became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), you still thought, understood, and talked like a child. God gave you His Word and Spirit so you would slowly put away childish thinking, understanding, and talking. He wants you to “desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). If you spend time in the Word and under the Word, it will change your thinking and your talk. As your talk is changed, you will soon start to agree with God and His Word, and the law of faith will go into operation. Childish, unbelieving talk will leave your life. Fear, complaining, and critical talk will be replaced by God’s Word. What you talk about, you will become full of. As you talk in line with power, you will be full of power; as you talk in line with faith, you will be full of faith. Soon situations and circumstances that are anti-Word will not change your faith thinking and faith talk. No matter what the challenge—you will continue to live like a mature person and put away childish things. You are now walking by faith, not by sight; you are now the just who lives by faith.

Pastor Tom Kehres

Finished Fact or Future Hope?

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. —Ephesians 4:24

Addictions—such as smoking, drugs, food, or alcohol—can be removed from your life by believing in the deliverance that Jesus has already provided for you. You are born again, but you still believe that you are a smoker, a druggie, or an alcoholic. You trust God for deliverance, but you are still claiming your old nature—“I’m a smoker”; “I am an alcoholic”—and yet God never calls you anything but a new creature, His workmanship, created in righteousness and holiness (2 Corinthians 5:17). People want to kick the habit before they will believe the promise. But if they just believe the promise and get and stay in faith, the grace of God will kick the habit. “Even as I light up, I know that I have been delivered from smoking, because God’s Word says I am delivered.” This is humility, and it allows the grace of God to go to work and remove the addiction. We want to kick the habit before we believe we are free. But if we just believe that we are free, according to the Word of God, we will kick the habit by the power of God (Hebrews 4:12). We have been taught to try to achieve deliverance rather than simply receive deliverance by agreement with the Word and the grace of God. All the promises of God are “yes and amen” for you (2 Corinthians 1:20)—when? Now! Now faith is. This is true Bible faith.

Pastor Tom Kehres

The Danger

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. —Hebrews 10:38–39

The just shall live by faith—by believing God’s report. “But if any man draw back . . .” Draw back from what? From God’s report into unbelief. If you do, “[God has] no pleasure.” Why not? Because you cut yourself off from the help of God, and He wants to help you. You were created to live a kingdom of God faith life. What would cause you to draw back? Another report or another type of evidence. If you draw back, your soul was lifted up. If you draw back, that will lead to destruction, but if you believe, it brings about the saving, or the transformation, of the soul. Through continual believing, your mind, will, and emotions will begin to come into agreement with the Word. All the promises of God are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). Pride in your life will take the promises of God out of the “yes and amen,” present blessing into a future benefit. When a symptom hits your body, you will be tempted to believe it and say, “I think I’m getting sick.” This takes the Word of God, which declares, “By His stripes I was healed” (emphasis added), from a finished fact to a future hope. This is when you must stay humble and believe the Word so that the grace of God (health) continues to function in your body. If you remain in faith, you enforce your divine right of healing as a Kingdom citizen. The grace of God will go to work to remove the symptom.

Pastor Tom Kehres